Enter Live @ The COTA Gallery

The last time I went to a bar (where I was not attending an event) a group of corporate guys approached my married friend and I and bought us drinks. Soon after the conversation started, the guy who showed an interest in me decided to remove his shirt and suggest I go home with him. At that point, I did not know whether to be more shocked with his forwardness or embarrassed by his toplessness. When I informed him I was not going to do that, he told me I was high-maintenance, a princess, and suggested I go home because I am boring. Being continuously disappointed with the quality of men in bars, I got up and left. My married friend who had left (quite annoyed) a few minutes earlier told me that his friends had asked her whether she had cheated on her husband and when she told them she hadn’t, asked whether she would consider it.

On 6 June 2014 I attended the first Enter Live event held at the COTA Gallery in Surry Hills. Enter Live is the brainchild of Adam Walmsley and Oscar Narvaez. It is a mix between a club, bar and house party held in unique locations around Sydney. The aim is to bring friends together to enjoy good music without the entrance fee of getting into a bar, adhering to certain dress standards, lining-up for drinks, lockouts, and sleazy one-night stand men. These invitation only events allow invitees to bring their friends along. Once these friends are introduced to the group and trusted, they are invited to the next event where they can bring their own friends.

Adam Walmsley has been involved in music production and DJing for more than five years. His first success was in 2008 with an electro house group called Destroy Disco. They released records and remixes on record labels around the world including Dj A-Trak’s (One half of Duck Sauce) label Fools Gold, Secure Recordings, Southern Fried and Australian labels Klub Kids and an array of others. Adam then went on to produce music under his solo guise Adamwah. His taste in house music flows towards the deeper end of the spectrum. He has had various remixes and original records released consistently since 2010.

Oscar Narvaez has music running through his veins. He spent time in the US learning his DJing craft before returning to Australia and performing under the name Oscar de Lima. His style is nothing but groovy, solid, no fuss house music. He plays regularly around Sydney and has been producing some really solid music.

At the event, attendees drank wine, mingled and danced at the COTA Gallery while admiring the art of the talented Lauren Webster. Courtesy of the Artist (COTA) also has a shop (in addition to the gallery) in The Strand Arcade in Sydney and they specialise in one off handmade jewellery.

Enter Live will be throwing these intimate parties regularly around Sydney in locations where most people would not think to party at: think rooftops, art galleries, cafés, record stores, bike shops and warehouses. The sky’s the limit! Enter Live’s next invitation only event will be held at Burdekin Hotel on 28 June 2014.

If events like this take-off, the girls of Sydney will have an avenue for meeting guys away from the sleaziness of the bar and clubs scene. — at COTA Gallery, 10B Fitzroy Place, Surry Hills NSW 2010